The Best 2008 Political Convention Coverage Online

In 2004, the major political conventions gave a few dozen bloggers press credentials, a historic moment for the new media outsiders. And this year, the political conventions have tried to be even more open to bloggers, video reporters, podcasters and new media. The Democratic convention credentialed 120 bloggers, and the GOP has credentialed 200 bloggers, according to Forbes.

Google smoothies in the Big Tent

And the Democratic convention taking place in Denver this week also includes the Big Tent, a hangout for new media types outside the convention sponsored by Google and Digg. There have been panel discussions, appearances by political dignitaries and free beer, smoothies and massages there. (Simon Owens looked at the Big Tent in-depth for MediaShift last week.)

But perhaps the more interesting trend at the conventions this year is that it’s more difficult to tell the independent bloggers from the mainstream media bloggers. As traditional media embraces a multi-platform approach, including their audience in citizen media reports, the distinction between who deserves a media credential and who doesn’t has blurred like never before.

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One example: Social-news site Digg and CNN’s citizen media-generated iReport are co-producing Digg Dialogg, where Digg’ers and other concerned citizens can ask questions to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The questions are then rated “thumbs up” or “thumbs down,” with the most popular being asked to Pelosi in a special Q&A with Digg CEO Jay Adelson. (No. 1 question so far: “Please describe what Net Neutrality is and your position on the issue.”)

Insiders or Outsiders?

Perhaps the more interesting question is whether indie bloggers and new media folks are now becoming a part of the mainstream at the same time the mainstream is reaching out and using the tactics of the independents. When the staid C-SPAN network is lauded by TechCrunch for using live-streaming Qik cams at the political conventions, you can feel change in the air for the media.

For example, independent bloggers in the Big Tent have already succeeded in getting big names to participate in panels and interviews — from Arianna Huffington to Dan Rather and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). At what point does blog coverage become indistinguishable from coverage by mainstream media?

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Action inside the Big Tent

“It does make you wonder. This blog culture that grew up outside of the traditional media, are we starting to step up to the stage and be with them as equals?” Daily Kos blogger Georgia Logothetis told the National Journal.

Actually, some of the hardest-hitting work so far at the Democratic convention has come from bloggers outside the traditional media. Sunlight Foundation set up a special Party Time blog to track which corporate sponsors were holding pricey shindigs for which lobbyists and politicians. In a similar vein, Salon’s Glenn Greenwald reported on a lavish AT&T party for Blue Dog Democrats that barred members of the press, including bloggers.

While citizen-generated media has an increased presence at the conventions these days, that populist ethos has yet to alter the fundamental nature of the conventions itself. Even with a few hundred independent bloggers in the mix, there are 15,000 total press in attendance at the conventions from around the world.

The political parties themselves could do a lot more to include their audiences outside the convention hall. TechPresident blogger Micah Sifry, who decided to stay home to watch the event on TV and online this year, said the conventions could do better:

This week, something like 20 million people will tune in each night to watch the conventions, but I’d be surprised if either the Democrats or the Republicans try to create any kind of interactive community out of that audience. Yes, they did a YouTube contest to find a representative “average person” to give them a free pass to attend, and yes, they’re using tools like blogs and Flickr to keep us informed on how the conventions are taking shape. But in terms of making the actual events more engaging, they’re probably spending more time worrying about the timing of the balloon drop.

Following the Conventions Online

So where do you start when looking for convention coverage online? With so many news outlets, bloggers, live video streams and Twitterers, what’s standing out? The following is a guide to some of the better sites covering the conventions. With so many voices in the mix, the best way to start is with aggregators that can give you a snapshot of what’s happening in various online platforms and communities.

Aggregators

> Perspctv
Nice startup site compares polls, with live feeds from blogs, Twitter and news sites

Great list, very comprehensive. Thought I’d add a shout-out in for kids who might be following the conventions (with or without their folks). Scholastic Kid Reporters are blogging and writing articles at http://www.scholastic.com/election2008 They’re also twittering– for the first time!– at http://www.twitter.com/scholasticnews They claim to be addicted to that reporting tool. (Full disclosure: I work at Scholastic and LOVE working with these Kid Reporters.)

A combination of our magazine’s award-winning staff, as well as two new online reporters and a film crew, kept our DNC Daily blog (a group blog) filled with personal narratives, enterprising reports, service entries, photos, videos, and more. We did our best to stick with local angles so our readership wouldn’t be spun into the national media tornado, and I think we did a pretty good job of maintaining that mission. Increased traffic reports prove me right, but see for yourself at http://www.5280.com/dnc.

Another slightly-longer plug: I am one of many working with C-SPAN on their convention hubs and wanted to make sure you saw two of the star features: the Blog & Twitter Roundups:

(1) BLOGS. Hand selected blog posts from state, national and affiliated bloggers — both those attending each convention and those opining from afar. To make this happen, we have a Blogger Tip submission form on each site, while also monitoring and conducting outreach to bloggers and online communities…

//and//

(2) TWITTER. Twitter aggregation of the #RNC08 and #DNC08 hashtags, with a leader board for each convention (how many total tweets, who is the most active, etc.; check out the #RNC08 action here: http://rnc08.c-span.org/?page_id=338). C-SPAN is also on Twitter, responding to viewers and providing updates: http://www.twitter.com/CSPAN (over 600 followers & growing!)

Both of these features are made possible by the people-powered element of the content. And with this new medium, C-SPAN is doing what they have done for decades with their cameras: giving a conduit for public access to the political process.

Thanks again for the shouts and the resources. Feel free to contact me as well w/any questions. And, of course, feel free to send me any posts you might want considered for the Hubs :-)

Mark, thanks for the great list. I’ve bookmarked it. Long live blogging & new media!

edward spencer

i think the best news story on a lighter side is the president ducking the shoes no doubt in my mind it should be in the top ten…..

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